Wagering on pari-mutuel horse racing is a very difficult and time consuming activity. It entails the detailed handicapping of the merits of each horse, jockey, trainer and breeder in addition to the track and distance being run. In addition to the difficulties encountered in handicapping the race, placing a wager can be an extremely complicated endeavor as well. Wagering terms can be as intimidating as understanding the wager they represent.
Consequently, the novice player in the sport is at a serious disadvantage to other participants with more experience, especially with respect to multiple race or multiple horse wagers. Although there are a great number of handicapping aids available to the novice player provided by experts in the field of handicapping, none give advice on the structure of multiple race or multiple horse wagers. These types of wagers require a level of expertise to understand the handicapping information that is beyond the scope of most novice players. Additionally, these handicapping aids offer information on specific horses in each race and not how to construct specific wagers that relate to the handicapping information. As a result, one of the most popular forms of handicapping/wagering aids is the quick pick. With a quick pick a random number generator is used to predict the outcome of the race without respect to any handicapping information. A quick pick is nothing more than an uneducated guess provided by the pari-mutuel wagering system.
Accordingly, novice players tend to be unsuccessful in their wagering, and as a result the sport of horse racing has stagnated, if not declined, in popularity over the last decade.
At a track, the participant may elect to go to a betting window to place a bet, or to take advantage of a self-service terminal to place a wager. Win, Place and Show bets are commonly referred to as straight bets and are easy to understand as they relate respectively to a first, second or third place finish. A common wager on a straight bet is $2.
With greater knowledge of the horses in a particular race, a player can attempt to predict in which order various horses will place. Additionally, players may attempt to predict not only the order of finishers in a single race, but the finishers over the span of multiple races. These wagers are known as “exotics”. In an exotic wager, the player is increasing the odds for success by placing wagers on multiple horses. In addition to exotic wagers in a single race, participants may also place wagers on finishers in multiple races.
The more the selections made by the player, the more the cost of the wager increases, and does so commensurately for each race. For example, an exacta is a wager in which the player must pick the first two finishing horses in the order of their finish. In other words, the player must pick the horse that wins and the horse that finishes second. Since the player is now betting on two horses, one to win and another to place, the wager costs twice as much. A $2 exacta wager costs $2. A “box” is wagering term denoting a combination bet whereby all possible numeric combinations are covered. If a player favors two horses but is not sure which will win and which will place, a box allows the player the opportunity to wager on both horses. If either horse wins and the other places, the player wins the bet. An exacta box with $2 wagers on each outcome would cost the player $4. As the wager becomes more complex the probability of success increases because more possible outcomes of the race are accounted for. However, the cost of the wager increases significantly. Tables showing some of the types of exotic wagers and the construction of these wagers is provided in FIGS. 1-3 and illustrates not only the complexity of the wager structure, but also increase in the cost of the wager.
In summary, at a track, the participant may elect to go to a betting window to place a bet, or to take advantage of a self-service terminal to place a wager. In either approach, the participant selects a specific horse to wager upon. Betting on multiple horses, or multiple races, an exotic wager, must be built in accordance to the participants preferences for each race. This process is often very complicated and intimidating to the novice participant.
There are a number of factors in the stagnation of growth in the horse racing industry including the increasing prevalence of alternative wagering opportunities. Aside from the competitive pressure exerted by these outside influences, horse racing faces several challenges to increasing interest in the sport and correspondingly positioning as a wagering interest of choice by the general public. These challenges are as follows:
1) The difficulty for a person not acquainted with the sport to understand horse racing wagering terminology. Win, Place and Show bets are commonly referred to as straight bets and are easy to understand as they relate respectively to a first, second or third place finish. Even then, a novice may not understand that placing a bet for a horse to Place (finish second) will provide a return on the wager regardless of where the horse finishes in the top three positions. With greater knowledge of the horses in a particular race, an experienced handicapper can attempt to predict in which order various horses will place. Additionally, a very experienced handicapper may attempt to predict not only the order of finishers in a single race, but the finishers over the span of multiple races. These wagers are known as “exotics”. The names of these wagers can be as intimidating as the definitions are complex. Names for exotic wagers like Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, and Superfecta may sound foreign to the neophyte and become even more daunting when used in combination with other wagering styles such as “Box”, “Wheel” or “Key”. According to Horse Racing for Dummies; “one of the most popular betting styles is keying a horse. Most horses are keyed in the win position, meaning you're confident the horse will win the race, so you key the horse to win in a vertical exotic wager and use other horses in the second, third and fourth spots underneath. For example, you may key a horse to win in the exacta and then put some horses in the place hole.”
In addition to exotic wagers in a single race, participants may also place wagers on finishers in multiple races. Picking the correct winners in two consecutive races is known as the “Daily Double”. Variations on this theme include Pick 3, 4, 5 or 6 in which the winners of the number of consecutive races is picked.
Combining the concept of a Pick 3 with a keyed horse results in a wager that might look like this example: A $1 dollar pick 3, the 2 horse with the 3-4-5 with the 3-4-5-6. This means the 2 horse must win the first leg of your pick 3, either the 3-4 or 5 must win the second leg and the 3-4-5 or 6 must win the third leg to win your bet. The same concept applies to exactas, daily doubles, trifectas, superfectas, and pick 4's.
While confusing and intimidating to the novice, it is important to understand why these wagers and styles exist. In the 1950's about 95 percent of all wagers were either win, place or show and the only exotic wager was the daily double. The daily double was invented by racetrack managers trying to invent bets that would lead to larger payoffs. In 1971 Hollywood Park pioneered the first exacta. Since exotics provide the handicapper with the means of getting a much higher return on a wager, they have become very popular. Today, 70 percent of all wagers are exotics.
Obviously a great deal of skill is required not only to understand the concept, but to be able to put the concept into practice. While multi-race bets and wheeling, keying and boxing horses in exotic bets may be popular at the track amongst experienced handicappers, it may require a great deal of perseverance on the part of the novice to gain the experience to understand the concepts. Unfortunately for the novice, the easiest wagers to understand also provide the lowest return on investment for their wager.
2) The extremely complex methodologies for successfully handicapping the merits of the horses and jockeys in a race and thereby make an educated prediction on the outcome difficult. Experienced handicappers utilize a number of different data types to analyze each individual horse, in each individual race. Many businesses now provide detailed Information on each horse and their past performances. Complicated software analyzes past performances and the statistics for trainers and jockeys and compiles speed ratings, pace ratings, projected speed ratings and any number of other indicators important to the professional handicapper.
While all of these products are available to the novice to increase their understanding for individual horses, they do not necessarily apply to the exotics. Moreover, almost all require that the participant purchase handicapping systems or handicappers picks. Consequently to increase their understanding of the sport, and thereby participate in higher return wagers and styles, exotic wagers require a monetary investment to obtain educational materials, and both concentrated effort and practice to master these skills.
3) The cost of opening an ADW account and the cost of exotic wagers. In addition to the learning curve associated with mastering the complexities of handicapping, the monetary requirements of an Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) interface to a pari-mutuel wagering system for account registration prior to actual participation in wagering on an event present another obstacle to the industry in attracting new participants. One of the most popular ADW operators, Youbet.com requires a monthly fee of up to $17.95 simply to use the service. Although a participant can use the service for a 60 day trial period for free, and the service fees are waved if the participant wagers over $350/month, it still requires a $30 minimum deposit.
4) Affordability of exotic wagers. Exotic wagers are more expensive than straight bets. Oftentimes players cannot afford the minimums established by the tracks for the exotic wagers. As a result some players forego the exotics altogether due to the minimums involved.
It would therefore be beneficial to both the pari-mutuel wagering industry, and prospective participants who may be intrigued by the sport but intimidated by its complexity and cost, to offer a simplified means to:
1. Learn about the sport and get expert advice from professionals on a range of exotic wagering options and styles without paying for the education
2. Practice with these professionals with the opportunity to win a prize when they have made a correct wager selection without having to pay for the experience.
3. Open an account without having to deposit any money in advance
4. Place a wager on the exact proposition that the expert offers through a simplified wagering format that doesn't require any advance monetary investment.
5. Place subsequent wagers on monies earned through a plurality of media.
6. Provide a method for aggregating wagers to provide the ability for a player to aggregate his wager with those of other players, thus to provide the individual with the ability to meet minimums established by a pari-mutuel facility.